Endangered camel caravans of the Ethiopian salt mines

The salt flats of the Danakil Depression were formed tens of thousands of years ago by the evaporation of an inland sea. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Danakil, Ethiopia - Salt miners ply an ancient and gruelling trade in Ethiopia's northeastern Danakil Depression, one of the hottest and lowest places on Earth.

Danakil contains vast salt flats as well as sulphur springs and rumbling volcanoes created by the grinding of three tectonic plates. Yet this inhospitable landscape manages to support the Afar people, a Muslim group straddling the borderlands of Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.

Each day, Afar miners chop salt from the earth under a blistering sun, then load the minerals on to camels and donkeys which march for days to market towns to the west where the mineral is sold.

Danakil salt was once so valuable people used it as currency, but each rough hewn slab fetches only four Ethiopian birr (about 20 cents) at the mine today. With such small profits for such hard labour, the ancient trade may soon give way to more lucrative pursuits.

The Danakil also holds large deposits of potash which is used in fertilisers, and numerous mining companies are lining up to begin extraction.

A railway being built from Djibouti and a new tarmacked road traversing the old salt route may soon render the traditional camel caravan obsolete. Until then, the Afar miners will continue their tough way of life, scratching a living from this desolate stretch of salt.

Salt miners have come to inhospitable land for generations to extract the precious resource. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Simple axes are used to cut large slabs of salt, which are then pried out using wooden poles. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Other miners use hand tools to shave the slabs into bricks which are loaded on to the backs of camels. Each brick costs four Ethiopian birr, about 20 cents. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Up to 30 bricks of salt are loaded on to each camel. The weight of each load is sometimes so much that even these sturdy beasts collapse under it. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

The camels and their keepers walk for one to two days from the low-lying mines to a salt trading town called Berhale in nearby mountains. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

In Berhale, the camel's load of salt is traded and the caravan turns around for the return journey to the mines. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

On rare occasions, the salt flats flood with a few inches of water when sustained winds push water from a nearby lake across the depression. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Depending on the time of day, the salt can take on a pink, grey, or white appearance. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

Most Afar people are pastoralists who herd camels, sheep, donkeys, and cattle, but a minority make their livelihood from the salt business. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

In the summer, temperatures in the Danakil Depression can reach 45C. Even in winter, the daytime temperature can top 35C. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]

A fast-working salt miner can produce dozens of finished bricks at a time. [Jason Patinkin/Al Jazeera]